Shrine of Love

A/N: Sorry for being a week late with the update. XD Thank you for your reviews everyone!

Well, here's the next chapter!

Chapter 7: The First Lesson

It was an all new week.

Kagome walked sleepily onto the school campus grounds, the backpack on her back feeling like a ton on her shoulders.

"Seriously," she muttered bitterly. "They give us students a stack of textbooks and expect us to carry it on our backs everyday for the whole school year. How fair is that?"

"Very fair," a voice cackled behind her. "Especially since it's you who's suffering."

Kagome stiffly turned around. Kikyo glared at her, hands on her hips.

"We still have a score to settle, Higurashi," she sneered.

Kagome tossed her hair and looked her rival straight on in the eyes, "You're breaking the rules. Inuyasha told us we're not supposed to fight anymore, remember?"

"Of course I remember," Kikyo sniffed. "But this should be the last time we fight anyway…since I'll be beating you up into a bloody pulp and making you stay in a hospital for your entire life."

Her only answer was an exasperated sigh.

"Leave me out of this," Kagome said sternly and turned her back on her. "I'm not in the mood to fight right now."

'Then again,' she though grimly. 'I never am when I'm fighting with Kikyo.'

"Turn around and fight me!" Kikyo screamed. "FIGHT ME!"

"You're not worth the effort," Kagome waved her aside. That just made the frustrated girl behind her turn around angry.

"You bitch," she heard Kikyo growl loudly. Before she knew what had happened, a force shoved her forward roughly. Kagome's temper went off immediately. She whipped around, her fist ready to launch a punch at Kikyo's face. Her fist collided with a palm of Kikyo's hand. The two jumped a few feet away from each other.

"Now this is what I'm talking about," Kikyo grinned. She took a stance. Kagome did the same.

"I told you not to bother me," Kagome snarled. "I'm tired. Don't you get it! I'm tired of you. I'm tired of these stupid fights!"

She shot another punch. It successfully hit Kikyo in the jaw. The force caused Kikyo to slide back a few inches.

Kikyo began to extend her own fist, but a quick blur suddenly slapped down hard on her shoulder and pounded her toward the ground. Kikyo yelped and whirled around.

Inuyasha stood before the both of them, a slab of wood resting against his shoulder, his grip on it as hard as iron. His eyes were narrowed.

"What did I tell you about not fighting at school anymore?" he asked flatly. "I'm ashamed of you guys."

"What was the hit on the shoulder for!" Kikyo demanded.

"This week's theme is discipline," Inuyasha replied indirectly. "Which both of you obviously need to work on."

"SHE started it!" Kagome and Kikyo said in unison.

"It doesn't matter who started it," Inuyasha said as he tapped the slab of wood lightly against his shoulder continuously. "Both of you were fighting."

Both girls mumbled incoherently.

"What'd I tell you two last Friday?" Inuyasha asked quietly and was answered with silence before there was a reply.

"No fighting each other…" Kikyo mumbled.

"…unless you're in the dojo," Kagome finished. "Yeah, yeah. We got it."

The bell rang.

"Alright, I'll see both of you after school," Inuyasha said. "But first, I want both of you to swear that you won't fight each other again unless it's in the dojo."

Both girls swore.

After Kikyo stormed off, Kagome turned to Inuyasha with a glare.

"Kikyo really did start the fight, you know," she pointed out as both she and Inuyasha headed to class.

"Kagome," he sighed. "I'm the teacher. I'm not supposed to take anyone's side."

Inuyasha turned his head slightly and gave her a smug grin, "Even though you're cuter than Kikyo."

Kagome blushed.

"You still fought Kikyo back," Inuyasha said with a serious tone, changing back to the previous topic. "In order to consider a fight a fight between two people, both persons have to be fighting one another. If one person is just using defense and absolutely no offense…well, it wouldn't really be considered a fight since that person isn't really fighting back. But if what I saw was correct, you were fighting back, and so therefore-"

"-it was a fight. A fight outside the dojo," Kagome interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I get it already."

"You sure? Or will it take all this week to dig my point into both of your thick heads?" Inuyasha scoffed.

Kagome coughed, "I have a thick head?"

"What, exactly, was that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha demanded, stopping in his tracks. Both of them had reached the closed classroom door of their first period class.

"It means that you're thick-headed," Kagome said tartly. Just wonderful. They were having one of their daily arguments.

"I wouldn't insult your teacher if I were you. I can have you fail and make you repeat my class if I wanted to."

Kagome stared in utter disbelief, "You wouldn't dare."

For a brief moment, she noticed that the hallway was almost empty of students, and figured that there was only a minute or two left before the late bell would ring.

"Yes, I would," Inuyasha's voice snapped, reminding her that she was in the middle of a verbal fight. "Don't make me have to make you call me sensei-or even worse, master-from now on."

"I am not calling you either of those! And if you fail me on purpose, I'm telling Miroku!"

"But if I fail you on purpose, I'll get to keep you longer," Inuyasha said innocently. "And who would you rather have as your teacher? Me or Miroku?"

"You," Kagome admitted. She then scowled. "But that's no reason to fail me! I don't want to be stuck with you forever!"

As Kagome kept babbling on and on and on, Inuyasha leaned the slab of wood he held against the wall and then grabbed hold of one of her arms…which he pulled hard on. Kagome stopped her talking and shrieked as she fell forward against him.

When she looked up, her eyes met with his.

'Why do I always end up looking into his eyes these days!' Kagome cursed mentally. She then felt Inuyasha secure an arm around her. She squirmed.

"We're going to play a little game," Inuyasha said quietly, ignoring Kagome's squirming. He leaned closer to her face. "It's called: How Many Kisses Will It Take to Calm Down Kagome Higurashi?"

"Wh-what!" she sputtered.

"I said, 'How many kisses will it take to calm down Kagome Higurashi?'," Inuyasha replied softly. "Well, how many do you think it'll take?"

"Zero," Kagome croaked. She squirmed harder. "Inuyasha, let go! The bell's going to ring any second!"

All he did to answer her was lower his face towards hers at that moment. She felt herself freeze.

And still found herself frozen after he gave her a light kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Well, would you look at that!" Inuyasha laughed. "It takes only one kiss to calm you down and shut you up for good."

He let go of her and picked up the board of wood that he'd rested against the wall.

"Come on, Kagome," Inuyasha said. "Let's get in class before the bell rings."

He slid the classroom door open and went inside, leaving the door open for Kagome. She growled and stepped into the classroom filled with talking students. Apparently, Mr. Nobunaga hadn't arrived yet.

Kagome headed over to her seat, seeing that Inuyasha had already taken his seat behind hers. He was listening to a non-stop talking Miroku.

"Good morning, Kagome," Sango smiled when Kagome sat down. "You and Inuyasha were a little later than usual today."

"Yeah," Kagome sighed.

Then, just as the bell rang, Mr. Nobunaga stumbled through the classroom door.

"Oh, thank goodness. I made it!" he said as he gasped for air. All the students in the class rolled their eyes.


"Alright! Drama class is now in session!" Ms. Kaede barked. "Now listen here, all of you. We're going to be working on the play backwards. In other words, we'll be practicing the play from the end to the beginning instead of vice versa. There are not many lines for any of you to memorize since there will be a narrator. So, what we should really focus on instead are the actions and movements in the later scenes."

"Which means you and Kagome will have to kiss sooner," Miroku whispered slyly to Inuyasha.

"That's right, Mr. Houshi," Ms. Kaede's voice interrupted loudly, making Miroku jump. "Mr. Takahashi and Miss Higurashi will have to practice the kissing scene sooner than we all thought. As well as the dancing scene and numerous others."

"Hold up, hold up," Inuyasha jumped in. "We have to dance too?"

"You have no problem with that, do you?" Ms. Kaede asked. Her eyes had a 'if-you-say-yes-you'll-be-in-BIG-trouble' look.

"Uh, no," he gulped. "I have no problem with that."

"And you, Miss Higurashi?" Ms. Kaede said, switching her attention to Kagome.

Kagome, for some reason, looked uneasy, "Um, no. Not at all. I have no problem with that."

"Good," Ms. Kaede stated with a satisfied look on her face. "I hope you two learn to get along well with each other soon…"

Everyone heard Kagome and Inuyasha grunt simultaneously.

"…because we'll be practicing the kissing scene next week."


:o:O:o:O:o: Lunch :o:O:o:O:o:

"I really don't think I can do it," Kagome told Sango, who was chewing on a sandwich. "I mean, just lay there still while Inuyasha kisses me."

Sango swallowed and then turned to her best friend with an evil gleam in her eye, "So you're saying that you can't just lay there because you want to kiss him back when he kisses you?"

"Th-That's not what I meant!" Kagome stammered, blushing furiously. "You know that's not what I meant!"

"Do I?"

Kagome 'humph'ed. Sango giggled.

"I'm kidding. Of course I know what you meant," Sango smiled to herself, taking another bite of her sandwich. "You're saying that you can't stand the thought of Inuyasha kissing you in the first place, right?"

Kagome nodded.

"Are you sure about that? Because from what I see, it looks like you like like him."

"I do not!" Kagome exclaimed, her blush returning to her cheeks. Sango pointed at them.

"Your cheeks tell me otherwise," she remarked.

"Well, you like like Miroku too!" Kagome shot back.

"You always use lines like that against me," Sango rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to say it: I do not like Miroku Houshi. Who'd like a pervert like him? And don't even think of saying the word 'you' back to me."

"Alright then. Sango Taijiya would."

Sango stared at Kagome for a few seconds and then, before Kagome could say anything, Sango craned her head back and yelled up towards Inuyasha, who was sitting on the branch he usually sat on during lunch, "Hey, Inuyasha! Guess who likes you!"

He stopped his sketching and looked down at the both of them.

"Who?" they heard him say.

"You wouldn't dare say my name!" Kagome gritted through her teeth.

"Oh, yes, I would," Sango replied calmly. "But I'll reconsider if you take back what you said about me liking the pervert."

Kagome hissed quietly, "Fine, no one would like a pervert like Miroku."

Sango gave her a smug look before turning her attention back to Inuyasha.

"Kikyo likes you!" she yelled up to him.

They both heard him curse.

"What else is new!" he snapped. "I knew that piece of information ever since I met her!"

With that said, Inuyasha returned to his sketching. Sango gave Kagome a grin and resumed eating her sandwich. Kagome stared up at Inuyasha a moment longer before she looked back down. She picked up an apple from her lunch and bit into it. She shifted her position so that she was now completely facing Sango. However, Kagome remained quiet so her friend could finish her lunch in peace. Her eyes shifted over to the base of the large oak tree, which was about 3 yards away from where she and Sango were sitting. At the base of the tree sat her cousin who was hastily trying to finish homework that was due today in their class after lunch.

Kagome smiled in spite of herself.

'I know Miroku and Sango like each other,' she thought. 'It'll only be a matter of time before they'll be in a relationship.'


:o:O:o:O:o: After School :o:O:o:O:o:

"From now on, we'll have at least five minutes of meditation before we start training," Inuyasha said to Kikyo and Kagome, who were both sitting cross-legged on the floor. "That way, we can relax our bodies."

"We should have done that ever since day one," Kagome muttered and was answered with a hard slap on the shoulder with the slab of wood that Inuyasha still carried in his hands.

Kikyo shook her head at Kagome.

"I'm not going to really go into discipline," Inuyasha sighed. "But you two know what they used to do in the old days, right?"

Kikyo's hand shot up in the air and she waved her arm back and forth wildly.

"Kikyo," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "This isn't school. Just go ahead and speak."

"Well, in the old days, the sensei would make the student carry buckets of water in order to learn discipline," she said.

"That's correct," Inuyasha gave her a single nod. "But today, we need more than buckets of water to have students learn discipline."

Inuyasha slammed the bottom of the slab of wood against the floor. Kikyo and Kagome flinced.

"These days, we need things like this piece of wood and a whole lot of force," Inuyasha said. "Isn't that sad?"

Kikyo and Kagome nodded grimly. There was a period of silence before Inuyasha spoke again.

"Anyways, discipline should be old stuff for you guys. So that's it about discipline," he declared, letting the piece of wood fall to the floor with a loud clatter. "You two should know the meditation position already. And if you don't, you belong in the beginner class, not intermediate."


"Today, we're working with jujutsu," Miroku said as he tightened the sash around his waist and sat down on the wooden floor. Sango followed suit.

Miroku cleared his voice before speaking again, "Last week, we worked with judo which was, like I said, developed from jujutsu. There are four basic types of jujutsu: the first, originated during 1337-1563 uses a type of grappling called 'yawara-ge' that can be performed without the use of weapons. The second type was used during the Edo Period, 1603-1867. This type was used to drive out patrons that were drunk or refused to pay."

Sango laughed, "I heard about that one from my father. He told me that it was a funny kind of jujutsu and the least noble of the four jujutsu basic types."

"It is," Miroku gave a small smile before continuing on. "The most modern type, the third type of jujutsu, was developed outside of Japan and was altered and reformed in different countries. One example is Brazil, which is where Gracie jujutsu was created. Gracie jujutsu made jujutsu the top in prominent martial arts. And last but not least, the fourth jujutsu style, yoshin-ryu, is the best-known out of all four basic types of jujutsu. Yoshin-ryu, meaning willow-heart school, teaches us to be like a willow. To not "bend yourself", but to rather "bend back by outside forces and spring back."

"Which is the basic principle of jujutsu," Sango concluded.

"Correct. In jujutsu, you strike vital points, clamp and shut off blood vessels, and use choking techniques to make your opponent unconscious. Furthermore, it makes you build up stamina and self-confidence, and improve concentration…which is what I'm trying to help you do. However, the sole reason for jujutsu is for self-defense."

Miroku rested his voice for a minute to take a breath, "Alright, that's all for the lecture. We'll learn a little more and more about jujutsu, along with other styles of martial arts as the session goes on."

He stood up and faced Sango. "Hey, I was just wondering…you sure that flip you pulled on me a few days ago was the only judo move you know?"

Sango sat thoughtfully on the floor.

"Actually," she said slowly. "I know one more move."

Miroku's eyes lit up, "Why don't you show me then?"

Sango stood up and walked up to Miroku until they were a foot apart. She turned around so her back was facing Miroku and she rested her right arm straight across her back so that the upper part and lower part of her arm were at a ninety degree angle.

"Could you push my arm against my back with both your hands for a second?" Sango asked. Miroku did so. "I learned that if someone was doing this to me, I'd have to do this-"

Sango cut off, got her free left arm and slipped it under Miroku's left arm, hooking it securely and then turned in a clock-wise motion in a quick spin. She smiled triumphantly to herself when Miroku's hands lost hold of her right arm as she kept spinning and spinning. Her left arm, still hooked to Miroku's, tightened and she halted to a stop abruptly. During that quick moment, when Miroku bumped lightly against her as he also halted to a stop, Sango latched her right arm securely around his, took a deep breath, leaned forward…

….and flipped him hard onto the floor onto his back.

Sango lowered herself onto the floor so that she was kneeling and panted heavily. The two didn't speak for a long time.

When he caught his breath, Miroku groaned, "I am never, ever going to get used to your flips."


"HAI!" Kikyo and Kagome, both kneeling on the floor, each slammed down the edge of their cloth-wrapped hands against a piece of wood that was two inches thick and that rested a foot off the ground. Both pieces of wood cracked.

Inuyasha bent down to inspect both boards of wood.

"Good, Kikyo," Inuyasha said when he saw that her board had split in half right in the middle.

Inuyasha moved on over to Kagome's board which had also split into two pieces, "Good, but you might want to work on your aim a little, Kagome. It's a bit off-centered."

He straightened and then ordered, "Alright you two, one more time!"

Kagome's hands clenched tightly. He'd been saying those lines to her for the past half-hour. She had split the board perfectly in half each time, just like Kikyo.

'He's picking on me!' Kagome thought angrily. 'This is almost considered beginner stuff and he knows it!'

Inuyasha settled a new piece of wood in front of both girls. Kikyo and Kagome held their hands ready in the air above the boards.

'I'll show him,' Kagome solemnly thought as she raised her right hand above her head, ready to strike the piece of wood in front of her.

Both she and Kikyo slammed their hands against the wooden boards a moment later, "HAI!"

Two cracks were heard once again.

Inuyasha glanced down at Kikyo's split board, which was, once again, split perfectly in half. "Great job, Kikyo."

Kikyo made a proud face. Then, she and Inuyasha looked over at Kagome's split board…

…and both stared in terror at the large and dangerously sharp splinters that were sticking out like needles from the crack that Kagome had formed with her hand. However, the board had still been split perfectly in half.

Kagome smiled up at Inuyasha, "So, how'd I do?"

A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter.

Just to let you all know, I'm alternating the classes in this fic. So in some chapters, I'll talk about drama class. In some, I'll talk about the clubs that they're all in. In some, I'll talk about them in Mr. Nobunaga's class…I'm sure you all get the point by now.

All of the information about martial arts in this fanfiction are true. I don't make it up. XD However, about the tidbit where the teacher makes his students carry buckets to learn discipline, I'm not so sure. I can't remember if it was for discipline, or if it was used to see if the student was ready for the training…or something like that.

Anyways, I'm speeding this fic up. You know how there are at least two chapters about school days before there's a chapter about the Saturdays where Inuyasha and Kagome go shopping together? Well, the next chapter won't be a school day…it'll be a Saturday instead (which usually makes it a more interesting chapter, in my opinion since a lot of fluff happens on those days…XD). :-)

Please review!